Indoor Gardening in Winter by Roger Tagg

Even though it's not spring, summer or fall doesn't mean you
have to give up gardening. You can enjoy your green thumb by
growing things in the winter as well. Gardening in the
winter involves enjoying plants indoors - on window sills
and near windows. Some plants do go into a sleep during the
colder winter months - their blossoms fall off and their
leaves turn brown. There are several things you can do to
encourage full green foliage and lush blossoms throughout
the winter months. All it takes is a bit of practice and
patience.

One of the most important things for you to remember is
that you don~t want to over-water your plants. When plants
are in a resting period they need less water to sustain
them, even if they look brown and dry. If you over-water
your indoor winter plants you~ll find the leaves will start
to fall off. Winter gardening means that you have to adapt
the way that you water your plants.

Try to add some moisture to the air in your home if you can
when you are gardening in the winter. You can increase the
moisture by either buying a humidifier, which will benefit
you as well, or by simply boiling a pot of water on the
stove and letting it simmer for a while. The moisture in
the air will ensure that your winter plants don~t get too
dry.

When it comes to winter gardening you may have to realize
that there are some plants that simply won~t last for a
long period of time. These plants include Gloxinia,
Chrysanthemum, and Cyclamem. Try to focus your winter
gardening efforts on plants other than these three plants.
Anytime that you purchase an indoor plant make sure that
you find as much information about the plant as you can.
Find out how much light and water the particular plant
needs so that you don~t over water the soil or keep it too
dry. If you make sure that the conditions are right for
your indoor house plants you increase your chances of
seeing bright flowers lining your window sills during the
winter months.

You may find that there is more of a bug problem during
winter gardening than during the other months of the year.
If you find bugs on your indoor plants make sure you find
out what measures you need to take for each particular
plant before applying just any kind of chemical. Try to
encourage as much light in your home as possible when you
are winter gardening. For plants that require a lot of
sunlight make sure to find a window that gets the most
winter sun during the shorter days.

A terrarium is another option for those that struggle with
producing blooms while winter gardening. A terrarium is an
ideal solution for plants with green foliage, herbs, ferns,
orchids, and cacti.

Roger Tagg is the chief editor for Roar Gardening,
the #1 source on the internet for information about
Gardening,
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